The New York Times did a news obituary on Ralph A. Alpher, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy who was one of the pioneering architects of the Big Bang model for the origin of the universe.
Alpher taught at Union from 1986 to 2004 and was the director of the Dudley Observatory.
To read the complete obituary, click here (registration may be required).
Read MoreThe Times Union wrote an appreciation of Ralph A. Alpher, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy who was one of the pioneering architects of the Big Bang model for the origin of the universe.
Alpher taught at Union from 1986 to 2004 and was the director of the Dudley Observatory.
To read the complete story, click here (registration may be required).
Read MoreThe Los Angeles Times did a news obituary on Ralph A. Alpher, a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy who was one of the pioneering architects of the Big Bang model for the origin of the universe.
Alpher taught at Union from 1986 to 2004 and was the director of the Dudley Observatory.
To read the complete obituary, click here (registration may be required).
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The campus community ushers in the 2007-08 academic year with the opening convocation Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 4:30 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.
College Marshal William A. Finlay, associate professor and director of the Yulman Theater, will lead an academic procession from Everest Lounge to Memorial Chapel. Members of the Schenectady Pipe Band will also perform.
President Stephen C. Ainlay will discuss the upcoming year and recognize the 2006-07 Dean’s List students, including the presentation of a plaque bearing their names that will be displayed at the Reamer Campus Center.
The Stillman Prize for excellence in teaching and the Hollander Musician Prize, established by Lawrence J. Hollander, dean of engineering emeritus at Union, will also be awarded.
Following the ceremony, there will be a reception for the campus community in Hale House dining room and Old Chapel.
Classes begin Wednesday, Sept. 5.
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Charles T. “Tom” Male Jr. ’36
Charles T. “Tom” Male Jr. ’36, professor emeritus of civil engineering at Union, died July 5, 2007. A lifelong resident of Niskayuna, N.Y., he was 93.
He joined Union in 1942, the first civil engineering professor with a doctorate, then an unusual distinction in a field where a master’s degree and engineering experience were the norm, according to his longtime colleague, Professor H. Gilbert Harlow.
Male retired in 1984, but continued to teach, advise and attend department and campus gatherings long afterward.
Male came from a family with deep ties to the College and its engineering programs. His father, Charles Sr., graduated from Union in 1913 and then taught surveying and engineering mathematics until 1954, when he founded a surveying firm.
He was perhaps most visible on campus as the instructor of a surveying course, which students sometimes referred to as “Fun in the Sun.” In nice weather, a dozen students would be spread around campus, clipboards in hand, as Male checked their progress on what was likely the most surveyed parcel in Schenectady.
Harlow recalled the day that Male’s students, with help from their instructor, lifted the rear end of a car and placed it on blocks so that its owner, a student, would find the wheels spinning in the air as he tried to drive. The next day, again with Male’s help, the students hid the car in the hydraulics laboratory.
Male sometimes cultivated a gruff persona, but it quickly gave way to a warm and jovial side combined with a keen interest in helping his students. As a partner in C.T. Male Associates, the surveying firm founded by his father, he offered internships and employment to a number of students and alumni.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Union in 1936. He also earned a master’s degree and a doctoral degree from Cornell University.
His wife, Mildred Garrett Male, whom he married in 1937, died in 1997.
Survivors include three children: C. Thomas Male III of Bridgeport, N.Y.; Gary R. Male of Niskayuna; and Judith M. Henerey of Niskayuna.
Warren D. Bagatelle ’60
Warren D. Bagatelle ’60, a well-known investment banker, ardent supporter of Union College for more than three decades and founding member of Union’s Eliphalet Nott Society, died May 31. He was 69.
Bagatelle, a certified public accountant, was a partner at Loeb Partners Corporation in New York City and served on many corporate and not-for-profit boards. Before joining Loeb, he ran the New York Stock Exchange member firm of Rosenkrantz Ehrenkrantz Lyon & Ross. Prior to his Wall Street career, he ran several publicly traded and privately held companies. He was also a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard.
He earned a master’s degree in accounting from Rutgers University in 1961 and began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co.
“Warren was a very social, active, successful, fair and honest man, with a lot of integrity,” said Charles Roden ’60, Bagatelle’s partner in an investment firm named HSB, after his beloved wife, Hedy.
“He and I were frat brothers and classmates and we’ve had an investment partnership together for at least 25 years. In business, he was a tiger,” Roden said. “He was also very helpful to Union graduates, hiring many students over the years. Warren was passionate about Union.”
As an undergraduate, Bagatelle was a member of Phi Sigma Delta fraternity and an accomplished athlete involved in football, wrestling and lacrosse.
“Warren was at Union when I played for the junior varsity lacrosse team,” remembered Stephen Zuckerman ’62. “Warren sagaciously advised me that when chasing a loose ball, first go after the opposing player, and once he was out of the way, then go after the ball. When we would meet in later years, he still had the same attitude toward me and others; that he was your big brother here to help you.”
As an alumnus, Bagatelle was chairman and member of the Graduate Management Institute Advisory Council, an Admissions representative and a Friend of Union Athletics. He helped launch the Eliphalet Nott Society more than a decade ago to foster entrepreneurship through the Union community.
A native of Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Bagatelle lived with his wife of more than 44 years, Hedy (Schwartz), in Wayne and then South Orange, N.J. He also is survived by a son, David; daughters Tracy Bagatelle-Black ’89, who earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy, and Adrien ’92, who holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology; and four grandchildren.
Donations to the Warren D. Bagatelle Scholarship Fund may be sent to the Union Graduate College, Lamont House, 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY 12308.
Robert J. Mielke '60
Robert J. Mielke '60, former chairman of Union’s UCALL Steering Committee, treasurer of the Union College Club of Schenectady, and member of the Union Alumni Council and Terrace Council, died on Monday. He was 69.
Mielke, of Schenectady, earned a bachelor’s degree from Union and later received his master’s degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania. Mielke later earned a master’s degree in library science from University at Albany.
He worked as a high school librarian in the Fort Plain Central School District for 27 years before retiring in 2000. In the late 1980s, Mielke helped lead the formation of Union College Academy for Lifelong Learning or UCALL. The academy hosts College professors or others during a series of five weekly classes for Schenectady area adults.
"Bob was a wonderful person who was a dedicated and loyal son of Union,” said Dominick F. Famulare ’92, director of Alumni Relations. “He adored the College and friendships that came with it. He was thrilled and proud to win the Special Appreciation Award during Homecoming in 2005. He will be missed."
He was a lifelong member of Zion Lutheran Church in Schenectady, where following his retirement, he served as the church’s archivist and librarian.
Over the years, Robert had done extensive gardening. He enjoyed listening to music, and attending concerts, musicals and the opera. He especially enjoyed fishing and spending restful, quality time at his camp in the Adirondacks.
He will be remembered for his friendly, kind and gentle nature. Robert is survived by his fiancee, Evelyn Thode; several cousins, and many friends.
Willard Roth, professor of biology emeritus
Willard Roth, former chair of the Biology Department and pioneer of Union’s Health Professions Program, died June 20. He was 82.
Roth joined Union College in 1967 as chair of the Biology Department, a position he held until 1981, when he was named associate dean of undergraduate studies. Roth also helped form the Health Professions Program in the 1970s before retiring in 1995.
“He was really the founder of College’s modern Biology Department. He enlarged it and hired professors that formed the basis of this department,” said Biology Department Chair Leo Fleishman.
Beyond his work hiring faculty and as a dynamic classroom lecturer, Roth spent many hours helping students earn admission to medical school, said former biology Professor Twitty J. Styles. Roth frequently phoned medical school admissions deans and conducted mock admissions interviews with students, providing what Styles called “visionary” leadership.
“His dedication to students who aspired to careers in the health professions was his greatest impact on the department. He developed a national, if not an international network, involving quite close rapport with admissions committees to effectively place our graduates in a very tailored manner,” said longtime colleague and former biology professor Carl George.
Roth helped found Northeast Association of Advisors to the Health Professions (NEAAHP) and was regarded as pioneer of advising pre-med students across the Northeast, said Carol Weisse, director of the Health Professions Program and current president of the advisors association.
Roth was born in Waterloo, Iowa in 1925. After graduating from high school in 1943, he served in the U.S. Army in World War II in both Europe and Asia. He attended Swarthmore College, graduating with high honors, and then did graduate work in biology at Harvard University, receiving a doctoral degree in 1956.
Roth taught pre-clinical sciences at Harvard Medical School from 1955 to 1967, rising to the rank of assistant professor before coming to Union College. His expertise was in histology, the study of minute tissue structure, and his research interest was neuron endocrinology.
Roth became involved in Tibetan Buddhism in 1980, and was named director of the Karma Kagyu Institute, which is concerned with preserving and disseminating Tibetan Arts and Culture. He was associate director of Albany Karma Thegsum Chöling, an upstate New York Tibetan Buddhist Center affiliated with the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery in Woodstock, N.Y.
Combining his various interests, Roth has been greatly involved in interfaith activities, and also acted as night chaplain at both Ellis Hospital and Albany Medical Center Hospital.
Roth is survived by his wife of 55 years, Laura M. Roth; his brother, Milton Roth of Waterloo, Iowa; his daughter, Karen Roth and her husband Michio Fujita of Albany; his son, Andrew Roth and his wife Andrea and grandsons Eric and Zachary Roth, of Saratoga Springs.
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WAYNE FRANKLIN ’67
James Fenimore Cooper: The Early Years
Yale University Press
James Fenimore Cooper: The Early Years
This is the first treatment of the life, until age 36, of James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851) that is based on full access to Cooper’s family papers. Cooper’s life is the story of how, as Franklin relates, in literature and countless other endeavors, Americans in his period sought to solidify their political and cultural economic independence from Britain. Cooper invented the key forms of American fiction—the Western, the sea tale, the Revolutionary War romance. Furthermore, Cooper turned novel writing from a polite diversion into a paying career. He influenced Herman Melville, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Francis Parkman, and even Mark Twain—who felt the need to flagellate Cooper for his “literary offenses.” His novels mark the starting point for any history of our environmental conscience. Perhaps no other American writer stands in greater need of a major re-evaluation than Cooper. Wayne Franklin is author of The New World of James Fenimore Cooper and co-editor of the Norton Anthology of American Literature. He is professor of English and director of American studies at the University of Connecticut.
RICHARD H.K. VIETOR ’67
How Countries Compete: Strategy, Structure, and Government in the Global Economy
Harvard Business School Press
How Countries Compete: Strategy, Structure, and Government in the Global Economy
As the globalization continues, countries compete for the markets, technologies and skills needed to raise their standards of living. These strategies can make – or break – a government's efforts to drive and sustain growth. In How Countries Compete, Vietor sheds light on ways in which governments can best set direction and provide a healthy climate for a nation's economic development and profitable private enterprise. Drawing on history, economic analysis and interviews with executives and officials around the globe, Vietor provides concentrated examinations of different approaches to government facilitation of development. Chapters focus on the unique social, economic, cultural and historical forces that shape governments' approach to economic growth. Countries discussed include: China, India, Japan, Singapore, the United States, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Vietor challenges the widespread notion that, in market-driven economies such as the United States, a strong government can only hinder business success. A provocative resource, How Countries Compete offers potent insights into how the business environment has evolved in crucial nations and what its trajectory might look like in the future.
ARNOLD I. BURNS ’50
Preparing to be Lucky: A Public and Private Life Shaped by Humor
Xlibris
Preparing to be Lucky: A Public and Private Life Shaped by Humor
Burns was at first rejected by Union College when he applied in 1946. After receiving the rejection letter, he took a train from Lynnbrook, N.Y. to Schenectady and marched into what was then President Carter Davidson’s office. Burns said: “I am here because I want to go to Union College. I’ve applied for admission and been turned down.” Davidson did not budge. “No, no, I really want to go here,” Burns replied. Davidson agreed to review Burns’ application and granted him admittance. That story is one of hundreds found in Burns new book of humorous vignettes. He has written three other books about humor. A practicing lawyer for more than 45 years, Burns left his law firm in 1999 to become a managing director of Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder, Inc., an international investment banking firm. From 1986 to 1988, he served as deputy attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice. Burns has served as a College Trustee for more than 30 years and was Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1982 to 1985. Burns also served as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and chairman of the National Center for Victims of Crime.
ANTONIO F. VIANNA ’66
Hidden Dangers
Authorhouse
Hidden Dangers takes readers into a world of espionage that pits two veteran spies against each other in a cat-and-mouse game of deception. Throw in an unexpected love affair, a troubled paranoid personality, a greedy and manipulative boss, and a young agent who desperately wants to free himself from the spy game. Readers will be surprised when they read the final chapter.
Vianna is the author of several motivational books including Career Management and Employee Portfolio Toll Kit Workbook and Leader Champions: Secrets of Success. His fiction forays include Tale from a Ghost Dance, centering on the visionary powers of a high-powered female executive; Talking Rain, a plot-twisting murder mystery; and The Veil of Ignorance, a suspense novel about a struggling college professor. Vianna, who majored in biology at Union, lives in Carlsbad, Calif.
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